This isn’t necessarily all that competitive intelligence related but it was such a major point of rethinking for me, it inspired my first blog post in months! Here’s an excerpt from the original FastCompany post:

It’s become a classic business mantra: you learn more from your failures than from your successes. But what if that idea is all wrong? Alex Bogusky, co-chairman of Crispin Porter + Bogusky, believes it is–and recent MIT research showing that we learn more from success backs him up. “You create a fearful culture where you spend a lot of time looking at where you screwed up,” he says. Instead, his company has bred a culture in which success is celebrated, and failure is forgotten.

According to this article at FastCompany.com, “data released by BrandIndex reveals that ad lab Crispin Porter + Bogusky has finally helped Microsoft turn the corner, and that Apple may need to rethink its derisive response to Microsoft’s new “Laptop Hunter” ads.” Judging from the Apple ad above, I’d say they’ve got their attention; it comes off a little more defensive than usual to me. Here’s another quote from FC:

A BrandIndex survey of 5,000 people shows that among the 18-to-34 year-old demographic (that’s right, young people) Apple’s “value perception” has taken a nose-dive. BrandIndex rates a brand on a scale of -100 to 100 (zero meaning the brand is getting equal positive and negative feedback) by simply asking customers whether they feel they get a good value for their money. Apple enjoyed a value rating of 70 as recently as last winter but has plunged to 12.4 since then. Microsoft, meanwhile, has rebounded from an indifferent zero in February to 46.2 today, indicating that its latest attempt to portray Apple as overpriced is hitting home with customers.